India Finance Jobs

With India becoming the choicest investment destination, the flow of FDI and FIIs has increased tremendously.

Following the 2009 elections, the growth forecast for India for the fiscal year (April 2009 to March 2010) has been set to 5.8 percent, from the previous 4.4 percent, by Morgan Stanley, a reputed financial services company.

The following are some factors behind the increase in finance jobs in India:

• Boom in the stock market
• Renewed foreign investor confidence
• Increased consumer spending

The success of BPOs and KPOs in India has also boosted confidence of overseas companies in the country’s hidden potential. This has led to the emergence of FPO or Financial Processing Outsourcing, leading to a significant increase in India’s finance jobs.

More and more international companies are looking forward to leveraging India’s increasing skilled manpower.

In FPOs, jobs are available in the following streams:

• Financial Services
• Taxation Services
• Accounting Services
• Bookkeeping Services
• Payroll Services
• Customer Service
• Content Writing

A number of financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, SEBI, NBFCs and other market regulators are being set up in India. This has further led to an increase in career opportunities in the financial sector.To acquire a job in these institutions, one needs professional certifications and degrees. Certification in CA or ICWAI (The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India) will not be sufficient.

A number of premier educational institutes have come up with valuable industry specific courses, such as:

• The Indian Institute of Financial Planning offers courses such as Certified Financial Planner and Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Financial Planning and Wealth Management.
• The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, Andhra Pradesh, offers a one-year PG Diploma in Chartered Financial Equity Research and Other Related Areas.
• IGNOU offers a one-year PG Diploma in Financial Management.
• JDC Bytco Institute of Management Studies and Research, Maharashtra offers a PG Diploma in Capital Market Studies.
• Madurai-Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, offers a Master's degree in Finance Control.

In India, finance jobs are a lucrative career choice for people with the right qualifications and good analytic and numerical skills.

India Investment Banking Jobs

Goldman Sachs rightly said (in the first week of May) that in the second half of 2009-10, the Indian economy will pull through the recession. In India, investment banking jobs are in great demand due to the improving financial sector and sound domestic market. Investment banking firms deal with companies and the government by helping them in issuing securities. Their core job also includes buying securities, managing trade securities, financial assets and offering financial advice to their clients.

Some of the top investment banks with operations in India are:

• Goldman Sachs & Co
• J.P. Morgan & Co., Inc.
• Citigroup
• UBS
• Bank of America
• Deutsche Bank

Smaller firms are called boutiques. These firms offer services, such as bond-trading, technical analysis, industry vertical and M&A advisory for their clients. Boutiques have a wide range of operations, employing people for several different positions, such as:

• Sales and trading professionals work with securities owners
• Investment bankers offer their services to issuers of securities
• The capital markets lie somewhere between the sales and trading and investment banking segments

Here are some job options in investment banking in India:

Corporate Finance: This involves assisting clients in obtaining capital required for ongoing operations and new projects. The core responsibility is to determine the needs of a client in terms of amount and structure of fund required through equity, debt, convertibles, preferred, asset-backs, or derivative securities.

Capital Markets: This option lies in the Debt Capital Markets (DCM) or Equity Capital Markets (ECM). In the DCM, professionals help clients create new debt or equity issues. ECM or DCM professionals usually interact with derivatives, convertibles, equity derivatives and financial strategy.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Investment banks help client companies takeover (buy) other company(ies). Professionals in this field offer advice to clients and facilitate negotiations. Goldman Sachs and Lazard are world famous as M&A advisories.

Project Finance: The core responsibility is to fund infrastructure and oil capital projects of a company or the government. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are major players this arena

Trading: Executives in sales and trading undertake transactions in futures, bonds, equities and currencies with traders at investment banks and commercial banks. One can also apply in commercial paper or agency securities for trading jobs.

In India, investment banking jobs also include Structured Finance, Advisory, Derivatives, Equity and Fixed Income Research, Public Finance, Retail Brokerage / Private Client Coverage / Stockbroker, Institutional Sales, Ratings Analyst, and IT and Systems.